Multiple dangerous asteroids approaching Earth at the same time

Written by Jacob Vangundy | Published 16 seconds ago

Several asteroids will pass by Earth in the next few days, some of them getting astronomically shockingly close. These space rocks join many others that missed our planet on October 24. With such a high density of passing celestial objects, it is clear why NASA monitors their paths so closely.

There are five asteroids on track to approach Earth between now and October 28. NASA's monitoring team is tracking them all, monitoring the approach of these potentially dangerous space rocks. The team runs an online dashboard that makes information such as size, distance, path and date they will pass Earth available to the public.

One day, three asteroids

October 26 will be the most active in the coming days, with three asteroids passing near our planet. These meteorites range in diameter from 64 to 110 feet, with the smallest being called “house-sized,” while the two larger rocks are called “airplane-sized.” The smallest will be the closest to Earth, just 132,000 miles away at its closest point.

On October 27 and 28, we will see one asteroid pass by, including another nearby asteroid. On October 27, a space rock the size of an airplane will pass by Earth 2.4 million miles away. Another, smaller, bus-sized rock will come much closer, 148,000 miles away at its closest approach.

Busy month for asteroids

All this activity comes on the heels of an even busier day, with four asteroids passing by Earth on October 24. The incoming rocks will be much closer to Earth, and none will come closer than 2.8 million miles away on October 24. However, the space rocks on October 24 were much larger, reaching the size of a skyscraper, with the largest having a radius of 580 feet.

Large asteroids like the one that passed by on October 24 are of particular concern to scientists because they can cause major disasters. Skyscraper-sized space rocks are referred to as “city killers” because they could destroy an area several miles wide if they struck our planet. Even more worrying are the massive “planet killers”, which are large enough to disable the entire Earth.

Close calls

Two asteroids that passed on the 24th were of particular concern because NASA discovered them less than a month before they passed. Tests have proven that rockets can be used to avoid dangerous space collisions, but preparing for them takes time. Recent exercises designed to test the international response to this type of disaster showed that the space community is ill-equipped to deal with these problems in a short time.

The concentration of so many potentially dangerous asteroids coming so close to Earth is worrying, even if none of them are on track to collide with our planet. Now that scientists can convert these collisions into rockets, it's more important than ever to monitor them closely. It's only a matter of time before one of these massive boulders hits Earth, but if they are discovered soon, it will be a disaster we may be able to avoid.

source: NASA